Family-Disaster-Dog-Lessons

Thursday, April 26, 2012

WARNING ! WARNING ! WARNING !

Confusion Fear Anxiety Loss

Panic Shock Death

911-MAYDAY-SOS

HELP!

FAMILY DISASTER DOG

CALL TO ACTION

This is a test of the Family Disaster Dog Network

In the event of an extreme emergency, natural or manmade disaster, terrorist attack, fire, earthquake, tsunami, tornado, flood, landslide or economic collapse and it’s the end of the world as you know it.

In other words, when all hell breaks loose...and you are ordered to Evacuate or Decide the Safest route is to Bug-Out, slip away or run...don’t forget you trained your dog using these lessons.

As your dog wakes the household by alerting and rounding up family members, you will be waking and preparing to go.

Each family member once dressed will grab their own backpacks with emergency supplies as you and your trained family disaster dog grab family go-bags and 72 hour ready packs with extra food or supplies you want to load in the car to evacuate.

Your dog will follow your commands as your family prepares to leave instead of hiding or getting in your way, your dog will know what to do too.

Your dog will carry its own food and supplies in a dog backpack giving you more room in your own backpack and your dog has room in its pack for extra supplies for the family.

These simple steps are preplanned out ahead of time.

Critical time is saved with the help of your dog.

This scenario will be the same if you were walking out to a safe preplanned location or to the street in front of your house.

Any item you need that you have taught your dog to retrieve for you, such as flashlights or extra boots, backpacks can be fetched by your dog and dropped where you have taught your dog to take the items. For instance, in the car, truck, shelter in the back yard or out to the street away from falling objects.

Now when the warning goes off all you do is evacuate and find shelter in a safe location with your loved ones and supplies.

Be sure to write on your house that all living beings have left the building or which pets remain behind for rescuers who come to check up on you.

Your dog will know from training and family evacuation drills what to do and so will your family which will reduce stress, fear and trauma.

This alone can save your life because more people get injured from panic then anything else during a mob situation or huge evacuation.

Set up camp with your family, bring out the pre-packed snacks from your rescue pack and celebrate!

You and your family dog did it!

Your family is safe; your dog is with you.

Wait for officials to find you or fix the disaster.

Do not leave your safe location unless you have a very good reason.

The next post will outline what to do when a loved one is lost and how to use your dog to find them. Be safe, have fun preparing with your dogs.

Once your dog is playing fetch and retrieving it is time to add-on “go-get survival gear” for you in case you can’t reach the gear and other objects by name that you and your family will need.

Service dogs retrieve items for their owners daily, they open doors and find wallets,keys and cell phones. Your family dog can do the same if you teach them the name of the item you want.

During the retrieval lessons you will be teaching your dog to associate the word with the gear and the name of objects.

Start slowly, one item at a time. Start with small items and work up to larger heavier objects. As an example, let’s use a small first aid kit, show this to your dog and tell your dog the name, like, ”Medkit” .

Keep the name or command simple and short. First Aid Kit is to long of word.
A soft carry case first aid kit like the one pictured is a good example.

Hide the “Medkit” with your dog watching then ask your already trained scenting dog to "find" the “Medkit” by name. Or toss the item as you say “Medkit”, for your dog to fetch and bring back to you.

Praise your dog.

To teach your dog to bring you gear and items by name once your dog is retrieving, you are basically going to be teaching the dog the names of the objects so you can send them to retrieve for you.

Teaching your dog the name of the objects you might need during an emergency or disaster situation can be done during all of the lessons by simply including the name of the object while you’re training.

Some of these Family Disaster Dog lessons are retraining your dog to do things they were taught not to do as puppies and teaching them the name of an object they were previously told to leave alone will take longer then had they never been conditioned to leave the object alone.

For this reason, always say your dog’s name and following the name use the same word to name each object or word you want your dog to learn to retrieve for you.

If you incorporate the name of the object into the training you will be surprised how quickly your dog can learn our words. We often forget to speak to our dogs or give them a chance to show us they know our words.

Always allow your dog time to show you and read your dog like they have to read us in order to work as our teammate.

Which items will you need your dog to get for you? Which words do they have to learn?

Large dogs can learn to get your go-bag or bug-out bag and their own dog backpack and take these items to the front door or a location of your choice.
Large and medium size dogs can move a lot of things into a vehicle or to another location in the event that we have to evacuate or move locations.

Small dog’s can learn to grab small items, like first aid kits, flashlight, maps, your purse or wallet. In an emergency I would consider my wallet very safe if my dog was holding onto it.

With practice your dog can learn to find the car keys and meet you at the car while you are getting the family to the car to evacuate. It would be great to see your dog waiting with the keys in the car.

Do teach these skills, all you do is plan the lesson on paper, then set up the session where you run through what you want your dog to do, step by step you will show your dog the way you planned them to take, and the items you want them to pick up, and where to go and then ask your dog to lay-stay or sit-stay or return to you.

Repeat the steps again and again on different days using the same commands for your dog to "go get gear" and "load car", take your dog to each gear item say "get gear" then "load car" , take your dog to the car where they deposit the item and you repeat the steps with the next item.

Praise and love at the end for a job well done. Encourage them and help until they get the idea.

Assign each object you want your dog to know a name, always use the same word. Always use your dog’s name first or they might think you are talking to somebody else.

Repeat your lesson plane several times over a couple of week’s time without any changes and your dog will learn what you want.

Only after the first job or mission is mastered do you introduce another plan or job for your dog to learn and do the same as before by repeating the exercise until your dog has mastered the lesson over a couple of weeks.

At other times when your dog is with the object, always get in the habit of speaking with your dog by saying the objects name.

If you are packing the baby's bag- say “ baby's bag”; when you pick up your wallet or handbag show your dog and say "wallet", if you are getting into the car- say “car”, walking to the back yard-say “yard”, when getting your dog's water- say ”water” because someday you may need your dog to find water for you.

Just like a human child with time and practice, animals, can learn our language too.

Friday, April 13, 2012

This is from my dear friend Pet Lifestyle Adviser, best selling author of pet cook books and pet radio host Wendy Nan Reese.

This article from Wendy Nan Rees fit so well with what we are teaching here at Family Disaster Dogs that we wanted to share her sound advise for all our followers and trainees.

This article also appears on Wendy's blogs, A Dog's Voyage Around the World here and Wendy's Animal Talk here . Be sure and subscribe to Wendy Nan Rees, Expert Pet Lifestyle Adviser for more pet tips. Thanks Wendy xo

Prepare Dogs for Earthquakes and TornadoesWith the increase in tornados and earthquakes around the world this year we thought it would be a good idea to post some fun activities to do with your dog from Wendy Nan Rees that can lead to your dog being your helper during an earthquake or tornado and in the event that a loved one is missing.

It is often stated that the more you play with your dog the more likely you both will stay together.
Just like a marriage or a dating relationship it’s up to us to make it a Friendship. Everything in our life is worth having and you have to be willing to put work into it to get what you want out of it!

I am asked every single day now that I have a new Puppy in training to become by personal service dog did you buy him this way or are you doing the work yourself?

My answer is, I am doing the work!

Why do I want another person to train my dog, if I am able to train him myself and I’m able to gain the bonding experiences?

Play also offers the bonding of the training and the mental triple threat to help tucker out Fido and to insure your both happiness. Exercise is as important for dogs as it is for people. It helps them stay healthy and helps prevent them from gaining weight. Well-exercised dogs are better behaved and less likely to test their limits indoors by chewing on furniture or releasing pent up energy.

Usually, those “bad” behaviors are a sign that your dog is antsy and needs a good play session or a long walk. Fortunately, exercise can be easily incorporated into your dog’s routine. Here are some ideas

As often as you can, take your dog for a walk instead of just letting him out into the yard to do his business. It’s great exercise for both of you!
• If you jog or run and your dog can keep up, take her along.
• Do you enjoy Frisbee? Let your dog play with you.

Today, they have an activity which now has a real name and many groups of people are enjoying this sport.

I personally have not tried this. I see groups of 3-4 people exercising with their dogs all the time. This fun activity it is called “Bikejoring “ and this is where you ride a bike and then Fido also pulls you along.

Now this I would love and gives me ride ideas.

Another growing sport is called “canicross” this is where you and your dog are doing a cross country course on a bike and attached by the waist using a harness that has the ability to also absorb shock.

And, a sport that is now growing again called “ Carting” this is where your dog pulls you and a very light weight cart. In some cases you race others as a group of carters out for a day of pleasure carting. This is something you can join classes to learn from beginning all the way up.

The wonderful sport of the “flying disk” and Fido catching it has kept on growing from the 70’s and today they have contests all over the world where you can learn and join in on many different levels.

Another interesting thing I learned is that there is even a sport type drink for your dog that is made to look just like our Gator Aide®. It is called Rehydrate Sports Drink for your Dog®..

Hunting and doing the field trials you do not have to kill to be involved in this sport as today they can and do use the dummy which has the scent of a bird and then you teach your dog to go fetch or point. Many of the different breeds offer different styles of how they retrieve.

Teaching Fido how to track a scent is one in particular that grabbed my interest and led to meeting Amber Higgins, founder of Family Disaster Dogs, who has since joined our team as my producer with her retired Bloodhound, Daisy.

Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham
Expert Bloodhound

I did a little research and here is a sneak peak of what I found and suggestions for creating your own “Sent Hunt” at home.

If you are interested in learning more about scent training, I found that that there is not a standardized common name for “Scent Hunt Classes”, but rather they fall under some of the names listed below.
1. Nose Work Class
2. DOG TRAINING Utility Class – Scent Discrimination
3. Scent Tracking Classes- Dog
4. Practical Dog scent training
5. Bring the Scent Hound Out in Every Dog Classes
6. Getting Started Tracking Classes
7. Scenting with a purpose (my personal favorite)
8. K9 Nose Work Classes
9. The Dog Nose
10. Cold Nose College
11. Family Disaster Dogs

The wonderful thing about Scent work is that your dog is able to do what he loves and is naturally born to do. This is not only great exercise but also a bonding experience and gives your dog a mental as well as physical work out.

Here are a few common terms and resources you should familiarize yourself with if you’d like to start your own “scent hunt.”

SCENTING – this is actually the term for the sport and you may even choose to go onto competing against other dogs if your dog shows the interest and talent.

BOOKS-SCENT - K-9‘s Reason for being “, by Detective Steven White. It is an excellent resource that I recommend highly.

Cabela.com: A website that sells food and animal scents as well as hunting supplies.

BEGINNING LEVEL ONE STARTING OUT FOR FUN
In terms of introducing your dog to “scents”, the type of scent you use is very important and you need to consult with an expert to learn how to introduce the scents to your dog.

The best way to begin teaching a dog to scent for fun and exercise is usually with a food scents and the most commonly used ones are Anise and Birch as well as clove. They are all in the form of essential oils. Some apply the scents on cotton some others use leather straps and some use linen stripes. They are then concealed in a of box or card board.

note: If your dog is doing serious scent work like search dog work, refrain from using food scents in training. Learn More

LEVEL TWO
And now, you’re ready for your mock hunt. The Idea of the game is for your canine friends to find the hidden scent. As your dog improves their skills, they can move outside and step up to hunting a scented ball or a dummy and then, once he’s mastered the skill and honed in on his nose, you can even add an obstacle course.

When your neighbors and their dogs are ready, it’s time to compete and this is where the fun begins. Give your judges a badge, a pad of paper and a timer, and let the games begin. The team that finds the mock fox or bird first wins!!!!

LEVEL THREE
Now you move into advance obedience and the start of basic agility work to get really to start compete, remember this is open to any type of breed from my Chihuahua and my Yorkie. I have personally chosen to keep Senny home, my trained Bird lab.

LEVEL FOUR
The Cost run from $ 50.00 dollars to $ 100.00 per class / Serious for training

When it comes to completion each one has its own entry fee that you will have to see with each show. For more info please go to the National Association of Canine Scent Work

The web Site is at www.nacsw.net

Search-and-Rescue Dog Jobs

SAR dogs are trained to specialize in certain search and rescue techniques, much like people choose a major course of study in college.

Air Scent Dogs: track by smelling shed human skin cells that float in the air

Trailing (Tracking) Dogs: search by smelling the ground for a missing person’s scent.

Water Search Dogs: work along shorelines and on boats with search teams.

A game of fetch may bore a human after a few rounds of, “Go get it!” and, “Drop it!” Golden retrievers are tireless fetchers, as are Border Collies and German Shepherds.

For some dogs, there’s nothing better than racing after a flying ball or Frisbee, capturing it, and bouncing back to the owner, who really plays the role of a human catapult.

Your dog isn’t shy about requesting a game of fetch. Usually, the “please” comes in the form of him producing his favorite ball and dropping it by your foot or in your lap.

In our Family Cappy & Senny just go wild for any kind of Ball! So we do the ball in water to help them swim and “retrieve” at the sometime it is just by chance that Capp’s Love for the ball have over ridden his normal what should I say?

Non swimming nature to make him a great Yorkie swimmer with our labs, Go Figure- it is a sight you really have to see one that draws its own crowd at the beach especially when I add a Chula into this mix.

Why do dogs go crazy for a game of fetch?

The fetch instinct is part of dogs’ DNA. In a pack, the top dog would go out hunting with other senior dogs to collect food for the entire group. He would chase after prey, fetch and retrieve food, then return home with the bounty to share. Fetch sparks dogs’ evolutionary prey instinct to find the most basic need: food. Today, dogs get all they can eat at home and fetch is playful and a way of pleasing their owners.

Now, about those dogs who love to fetch, but have no interest in dropping the ball or Frisbee? “Drop it” is a command you must teach to your dog. Again, dating back to dog instincts of the olden days, the top dog as the “hunter” got first refusal on the meat he retrieved for the pack. The one who fetched got first pick. Since your dog is fetching one item, you as the “pack member” get what’s left.

First off we want to thank you for reading these great pet tips from Wendy!

I would like to add that any dog and owner who learn to do any of these fun activities can use these play sessions to prepare for an emergency event like an earthquake, tornado, flood and the worst, a missing loved one.

To learn how to incorporate these tips into a disaster plan for your home and to learn how to teach your dog to find your family members or friends if they are lost you can read the lessons online at Family Disaster Dogs.

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